Shade Empire - Omega Arcane (2013)

Shade Empire - Omega Arcane (2013)




INFO:

Shade Empire is a Finnish symphonic black metal band, formed in 1999 in the city of Kuopio.

Shade Empire's prevalent lyrical subjects are death, destruction, hatred, anti-religion and pain. The music on their three official full-length releases, Sinthetic, Intoxicate O.S. and Zero Nexus, bears a melodic sort of black metal, featuring the usage of both electronic and symphonic elements. Their lyrics are mainly in English, except for one song that has lyrics in Finnish, "...Ja Pimeys Laskeutui", the title of which can be translated as "...And Darkness Descended" (the last word "Laskeutui" can also be translated as "Fell", "Came" or "Landed".

The third demo CD of the band, Essence of Pain, raised the interest of the Italian label Avantgarde Music. As a result, their debut album Sinthetic was released on March 29, 2004, under the aforementioned label.

In 2006, the band signed with the Finnish label Dynamic Arts Records. The same year, their second album, Intoxicate O.S., was released on May 24, 14 days after the release of the single "Slitwrist Ecstasy". Intoxicate O.S. had moderate success, reaching number 25 in weekly Finnish album sales.

After releasing the album, Shade Empire continued playing at several events such as Jörisrock and Qstock, mainly beside other Finnish artists. They also performed on a series of independent gigs. The same year, Shade Empire played their first official concert outside of Finland, in the encompassment of the Popkomm trade show in Berlin at the Kulturbrauerei (Culture Brewery). The band is currently working on their fourth studio album called Omega Arcane, with a release date set for May 6, 2013.


When you hail from Finland, a country teaming with metal giants (cast your mind along the lines of Finntroll, Wintersun, Amorphis and Ghost Brigade to name but a few), you have two choices: Option 1, you up your game, you mature as a band and you write epic tracks. Option 2, you keep on keeping on, you join the unknown masses and you sink into obscurity. On this their fourth release and a solid five years in the making, Shade Empire went with option 1. Their blackened sound has matured, their musicianship has strengthened and they’re walking a path that reminds me of the beautifully twisted, symphonic brutality of Fleshgod Apocalypse, the controlled, apocalyptic darkness of Septicflesh and the theatrics of Chaosweaver. Abso-fucking-lutely nothing wrong with them apples and in fact had Shade Empire‘s earlier releases not slipped under my radar I would probably have scrambled with a little more dedication and urgency to grab this off the promo pile [Slacker --- Steel Druhm].

Opening track “Ruins” gets the ball rolling. It’s an epic of a track that feels as though it needs its own motion picture, something along the lines of ‘Lord of the Rings’ of ‘The Hobbit’ maybe. The first thing that hit me with “Ruins” and tracks like “Dawnless Days”, “Until No Life Breeds”, “Disembodiment”, “Malicious Winds”, “Slumbering Giant” and “Nomad” was Rasan’s attack on the skins. He’s got all the power of a giant battering ram combined with intense focus and he’s definitely worked his way right up there with his fast and viscous hyper blasting and intense fills to join the ranks of Lars Broddesson (Marduk) and Francesco Paoli (Fleshgod Apocalypse) as one of my favorite drummers.

Overall the instrumentation on Omega Arcane has a similar feel to offerings like Fleshgod, Septicflesh or Chaosweaver and it’s just as tight – Shade Empire have done themselves a service by refining their skills and fine-tuning this album to the point of damn near perfection. The guitars (Juha S and Janne) and the keys (Olli) are well placed and huge, while at no time feeling over the top, unnecessary or showboaty and tracks like “Dawnless Days”, “Ash Statues”, “Disembodiment”, “Slumbering Giant” and the title track showcase the varied dimensions and melodic, euphoric beauty that Shade Empire are capable of. Juha H’s vocals on Omega Arcane slip effortlessly between otherworldly chants, ghostly whispers of pure malice, morbid black metal screams and unholy, guttural, death-like roars and it’s his vocal might that shows the most diversity, growth and maturity with this album release.

Alright, so I mentioned the phrase damn near perfect earlier – at 72 odd minutes Omega Arcane is daunting at the onset and there are a few minutes around “Traveler of Unlight” and “Devolution” where your attention wanes just a little. Cut these two tracks from this modern and clean, but not overproduced mix and you have a winner!

Like Fleshgod‘s Agony, Omega Arcane takes a couple of plays to settle in nicely, but settle in it does and it’s definitely going to have a prominent place on my playlist. Barring the two tracks I mentioned, the majority of the album’s memorable with repeat listens, melodic and stays with you long after you’ve stopped listening. My favorite tracks ended up being “Nomad”, “Slumbering Giant” and “Ash Statues”, lyrically they’re intelligent and musically they hit my senses in just the right way. This is a must have album! 4.5/5


Tracklist:

1. Ruins
2. Dawnless Days
3. Until No Life Breeds
4. Ash Statues
5. Disembodiment
6. Malicious Winds
7. Traveler of Unlight
8. Devolution
9. Slumbering Giant
10. Nomad
11. Omega Arcane

Genre: Black
Subgenre: Symphonic Black Metal
Bitrate: 128 k
Size: 69.74 MB